Freeman Homes confirms sponsorship of the Climate and Environment category in GRCC's Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2026 competition
Forest of Dean based housing developer Freeman Homes is sponsoring the Climate and Environment category of this year’s Gloucestershire Village of the Year awards, having also supported the awards last year.
“Freeman Homes was proud to be the overall sponsor of the 2025 awards, and is delighted to confirm support again in 2026,” said Hayley Coombs, Sales and Operations Director of Freeman Homes, who was a member of the panel of judges for last year’s awards.
Photo above: Freeman Homes' Sales and Operations Director Hayley Coombs (left) during one of the judging visits for Gloucestershire Village of the Year 2025
“It was wonderful to see and hear first-hand the passion people have to make their villages a great place to live, and to understand the challenges they need to overcome,” said Hayley, who is looking forward to being on the judging panel again for this year’s competition.
“Understanding how villages use shared spaces, tackle social inclusion and bring different generations together can help developers work more closely with communities at the planning stage. This way we can work together to improve communities, and enable the financial contributions developers make to be used in ways communities need and want them to be used.
“Our business purpose is Improving Communities, and we do that by delivering A-rated, quality homes on small developments that fit sensitively into village settings, while working with the communities to strengthen local services, shared spaces and connections.
“Sponsoring the Gloucestershire Village of the Year Awards lets us see first-hand what villagers value and the challenges they face, enabling us to add value to enhance rural villages and continue to improve the communities in which we build.”
The entry form for the Climate and Environment (Resilience) category of the Gloucestershire Village of the Year competition includes questions about sustainable energy and transport, supporting wildlife and biodiversity, waste reduction, engaging young people in environmental issues, and resilience and emergency planning.
There is a £2000 prize for the winning village in the Climate and Environment (Resilience) category, and a £1000 prize for the runner up. There are a further three competition categories which villages can enter, plus a £2000 prize for the overall winner and £1000 for the overall runner up, making the total prize fund £15,000. Further information and entry forms can be found at www.grcc.org.uk/voty-2026
